Offline2On.com Connects Offline Businesses with Ecommerce Experts to Get Online Fast

The COVID-19 crisis has hit small businesses the hardest and at an unprecedented speed. In the past few weeks, small offline businesses of all verticals have been virtually disseminated with the combination of city-wide lockdowns and states of emergencies in various parts of the world. These actions are necessary to protect the public’s health but have caused businesses without an online presence to basically bust overnight.

Seeing small business owners in this new gut-wrenching reality was not something the ecommerce community at large, including VL OMNI could sit back and watch idly by. So in an unprecendented cross-platform initiative, lead by volunteers in the community, they created Offline2On.com.

“Offline2On.com is a community-led, cross-platform initiative to support businesses in ramping up their e-commerce efforts in the wake of COVID-19 by connecting merchants with the resources, developers, platforms, and partners they need to take action. The initiative brings together nearly 1,000 technologists, designers, writers, marketers, PR professionals, as well as industry leaders from all over the world in the e-commerce space, working with platforms such as BigCommerce, Magento and Shopify. Today we stand as one, ready to help you rebuild.”

The driving mission is to create a hub of information and assistance to help small businesses create an online store. This includes resources to optimize sales and keep their heads above water as quickly as possible. Resources and specific help come from all over the ecommerce space, including ecommerce platforms such as Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce. If merchants can get themselves online quickly and start deploying different offerings such as gift cards, curbside pickup, and other initiatives, they will be more likely to weather the coming storm of uncertainty.

“Businesses can use all the help in the world right now to try and get an online store up and running. We’re immensely proud of how the e-commerce community is rallying to help.” – Karen Baker, Co-founder of Offline2On

Now more than ever, the importance of channel diversification and a multichannel presence is showing its value. At one point, small merchants or mom-and-pop shops might have deemed those channel options unnecessary. However, the current pandemic is showing all of us what is necessary for business to continue under strained circumstances. No one knows how long this new reality will last, but I think it’s clear it will not be brief. The lasting impacts of this crisis are also yet to be known. We, as the ecommerce community, must come together to support each other. We can help keep these essential businesses and services continuing.